Country Portugal Information Official language Portuguese mirandsky

Country Portugal

Information Official language: Portuguese, mirandsky (regional language) Capital: Lisbon Largest cities: Lisbon, Porto Form of government: Parliamentary Republic President: Aníbal Cavaco Silva

Geography The territory: 109 th in the world Total: 92, 151 km² % of water surface: 0, 5 Population: 10 799 270 people Currency: Euro

History of Portugal The history of Portugal dates back to the Early Middle Ages. In the 15 th and 16 th centuries, it ascended to the status of a world power during Europe's "Age of Discovery" as it built up a vast empire, including possessions in South America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Over the following two centuries, Portugal kept most of its colonies, but gradually lost much of its wealth and status as the Dutch, English, and French took an increasing share of the spice and slave trades by surrounding or conquering the widely-scattered Portuguese trading posts and territories. Signs of military decline began with two disastrous battles: the Battle of Alcácer Quibir in Morocco in 1578 and Spain's abortive attempt to conquer England in 1588 by means of the Spanish Armada – Portugal was then in a dynastic union with Spain and contributed ships to the Spanish invasion fleet. The country was further weakened by the destruction of much of its capital city in an earthquake in 1755, occupation during the Napoleonic Wars and the loss of its largest colony, Brazil, in 1822. From the middle of the 19 th century to the late 1950 s, nearly two million Portuguese left Portugal to live in Brazil and the United States. In 1910, there was a revolution that deposed the monarchy. Amid corruption, repression of the church, and the near bankruptcy of the state, a military coup in 1926 installed a dictatorship that remained until another coup in 1974. The new government instituted sweeping democratic reforms and granted independence to all of Portugal's African colonies in 1975. Portugal is a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). It entered the European Community (now the European Union) in 1986.

Culture The culture of Portugal is the result of a complex flow of different civilizations during the past millennia. From prehistoric cultures, to its Pre-Roman civilizations (such as the Lusitanians, the Gallaeci, the Celtici, and the Cynetes, amongst others), passing through its contacts with the Phoenician-Carthaginian world Roman period (see Hispania, Lusitania and Gallaecia), the Germanic invasions and consequent settlement of the Suebi and Buri (see Kingdom of the Suebi) the Visigoth (see Visigothic Kingdom), Sephardic Jewish, and finally, the Moorish Umayyad invasion of Hispania and the subsequent expulsion, during the Reconquista, all have made an imprint on the country's culture and history. The name of Portugal itself reveals much of the country's early history, stemming from the Roman name Portus Cale, a Latin name meaning "Port of Cale" (some argue that Cale is a word of Celtic origin, which also means port or harbour), later transformed into Portucale, and finally into Portugal, which emerged as a county of the Kingdom of León (see County of Portugal) and became an independent kingdom in 1139. During the 15 th and 16 th centuries, Portugal was a major economic, political, and cultural power, its global empire stretching from Brazil to the Indies, as well as Macau and Japan. Portugal, as a country with a long history, is home to several ancient architectural structures, as well as typical art, furniture and literary collections mirroring and chronicling the events that shaped the country and its peoples. It has a large number of cultural landmarks ranging from museums to ancient church buildings to medieval castles, which testify its rich national cultural heritage. Portugal is home to fifteen UNESCO World Heritage Sites, ranking it 8 th in Europe and 17 th in the world.

Portuguese people Portuguese people are an ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and their predominant religion is Christianity, mainly Roman Catholicism. Historically, the Portuguese descend from the pre-Celtic, proto-Celtic and Celtic peoples who inhabited the Iberian Peninsula such as the Celtici, Lusitanians (para-Celtic) and the Gallaeci forming the core identity of the country, followed by the Italics, the Romans. Other major segments include the Suebi, the Buri and the Visigoths. Due to the large historical extent of the Portuguese Empire and the colonization of territories in Asia, Africa and the Americas, as well as historical and recent emigration, Portuguese communities can be found in many diverse regions around the globe, and a large Portuguese diaspora exists. Portuguese people were a key factor to the Age of Exploration, discovering several unknown lands to the Europeans in Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

Government The Government of Portugal is one of the four sovereignty bodies of the Portuguese Republic, together with the President of the Republic, the Assembly of the Republic and the courts. It is both the body of sovereignty that conducts the general politics of the country and the superior body of the Portuguese public administration. The Government of Portugal is also referred as the Government of the Portuguese Republic, the Portuguese Government or simply the Government. The term "constitutional government" or simply "government" also refers to collective ministry in the sense of the team of ministers and its period of government under one Prime Minister.

Holidays New Year - January 1 Carnival Tuesday - February / March, the day before Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent Good Friday - March / April, Friday during Holy Week Freedom Day - April 25, the anniversary of the 1974 revolution Labor Day - May 1 Feast of Corpus Christi - May / June, the ninth Thursday after Easter Day of Portugal, Camões and the day, Portugal and the Portuguese communities - June 10 Feast of the Assumption of Virgin Mary - August 15 th Republic Day - October 5, the anniversary of the proclamation in 1910 of the Republic of Portugal All Saints Day - November 1 Independence Day - December 1, the anniversary of the proclamation of independence of Portugal from Spain in 1640 Feast of the Immaculate Conception - December 8 Christmas Day - December 25 Apart from national, each region of Portugal has its own local holidays.

Tourism Portugal attracts many tourists each year. In 2006, the country was visited by 7 million tourists. Tourism is playing an increasingly important role in Portugal's economy contributing about 5% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The main tourist areas are, by order of importance, the Greater Lisbon (Lisboa), the Algarve, Greater Porto and Northern Portugal (Porto e Norte), city of Coimbra, Portuguese Islands (Ilhas Portuguesas: Madeira and Azores), and Alentejo. Lisbon is, after Barcelona, the European city attracting most tourists, with 7 million tourists sleeping in the city's hotels in 2006, the number grew 11. 8% compared to previous year. Lisbon in recent years surpassed the Algarve as the leading tourist region in Portugal. Porto and Northern Portugal, especially the urban areas north of Douro River, was the tourist destination which grew most (11. 9%) in 2006 and surpassed Madeira, in 2010, as the third most visited destination. Today, most tourists in Portugal are British, French, Spanish, Dutch, Scandinavians or Brazilians, which not only search for beach vacations, but mostly cultural ones, city breaks, gastronomy, nautical tourism or business traveling.

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